Journalists on the Sunday Sport used to have the job of ghost-writing the former England captain’s newspaper columns. Sunday Mercury writer Mike Lockley was one of them. He looks back on his time as the great man’s alter ego.

I was Bobby Moore. Seriously, I was Bobby Moore or rather the England captain’s alter-ego.

And I was well-paid to impersonate one of the greatest footballers this nation has ever seen.

Not that I possessed Bobby’s dashing looks, sublime soccer skills or wealth. But I was a better writer than the Hammers’ hero – and that earned me the plum job of being Bobby Moore, the sports reporter, not the England captain.

The role – a dream for any fan of the beautiful game – was clinched during an early 1980s stint with the salacious tabloid Sunday Sport.

Each frantic Saturday, former football stars were paid to attend matches and describe the action during frequent phone calls to waiting, fraught reporters. Today, the ex-players would either tweet or text details.

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Back then, they had to wrestle for the limited phones made available to journalists attending matches.

Their brief conversations were turned into purple prose by the hacks – and would appear in the following day’s paper under their names and pictures.

I was also Charlie George, the Arsenal FA Cup hero. I was Liverpool hardman Tommy Smith. I was a host of footballers, some more professional than others.

A number simply failed to “ring in” after partaking of half-time libations. One famously engaged in a violent altercation while giving his assessment of the action.

Mike Lockley (Image: Birmingham Mail)

But gradually, I was elevated to the lofty status of being Bobby, a man given the impressive status of Sunday Sport sports editor.

The World Cup hero – now the subject of three-part ITV drama, Tina And Bobby – was polite, punctual but, at times, a little less than animated. Squeezing out enough detail to fill a tabloid page could be hard work, even if the pitch action was thrilling.

“Sounds like it’s all kicking off at Stamford Bridge,” I’d bellow down the phone, desperate for info.

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But Bobby, who died in 1993, aged only 51, was always quick to praise. He’d ring in and announce: “Like what you did there”. He was sometimes moved to inform me he was “well ’appy” with my report.

Now, my boss during those bizarre Sunday Sport days, Brummie Tony Flood, has given an insight into our working relationship with Bobby through his latest book, My Life With The Stars. The volume will raise money for the charity Children With Cancer UK.

The 72-year-old remembers – as I do – diplomatic Bobby’s reluctance to court controversy through his newspaper comments. Bobby preferred to keep to the middle of the road.

Tony said: “Bobby was a lovely man whose only fault seemed to be his well-guarded secret love of booze but, although he had been so decisive on the football field, he wasn’t the best at making decisions when he worked with me.

Golden couple Bobby and Tina Moore in 1966 (Image: PA/PA Wire)

“He wrote a column for Sunday Sport in addition to match reports and the paper’s style was to come down firmly on one side of any argument, but Bobby often sat on the fence.

“On those occasions when he did come up with a strong opinion, he would invariably frustrate us by then adding, ‘but on the other hand...’ and giving the opposite view.

“So I would patiently go through every aspect with him and count up how many ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ he came up with. Whatever was the highest would be printed in the paper as his rock solid opinion, with the other side of the coin not mentioned – and he accepted that.”

Tony tells in his book how Bobby was still idolised by fans despite being ignored by the football profession he had graced so wonderfully as a player many years earlier.

“When I informed the Brazilian FA about this, the message came back that they only wanted Bobby Moore.

“Even Hurst, our hat-trick hero against the Germans in that glorious World Cup final, was not considered to be in the same class.”

Tony added: “Bobby had suffered from cancer, yet he bravely agreed to play in charity matches I organised, and his presence ensured that a host of big names turned out. But I can’t recall him using his name to ask for any favours from those still in the game, such as Kenny Dalglish, the then Liverpool manager.

“Instead, he naively thought that our reporter could go up to Liverpool and get an interview with Dalglish without any prior agreement. He had a wasted journey.”

“His first marriage to Tina ended in divorce, and she and his second wife Stephanie were shattered by his death from cancer, aged 51, in 1993.

“Tragedy struck again when Tina and Bobby’s son Dean, who had worked with Bobby and me at Sunday Sport as a youngster, died in July 2011 at the age of 43 after collapsing from a complication caused by diabetes.”

ITV's Tina and Bobby (Image: ITV, Justin Slee)

Of the current television mini series, Flood admitted: “It must have been a hard task to cast the golden couple Tina and Bobby.

“For me, Lorne MacFadyen doesn’t manage to capture Bobby’s charisma and, while Michelle Keegan shows a lot of the emotions Tina must have felt, the most impressive performance comes from Patsy Kensit as Tina’s Mum.

“Ironically, I interviewed Patsy years ago and she is also featured in my book.”

* My Life With The Stars also features George Best, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Joan Collins, Muhammad Ali, Peter Sellers and a host of other celebs. Copies can be obtained by sending a cheque for just £5.99, including postage, payable to Sportsworld Communications, to Special Book Offer, 24 Brisbane Quay, Eastbourne, BN23 5PD. More details are available from www.celebritiesconfessions.com

Pele: The best defender I have played against

Pele with arms round Bobby Moore in 1976 in USA (Image: Mirrorpix)

Moore is regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time: Pele described him as the best defender he had played against.

He played for West Ham, making 509 appearances for his beloved club, and Fulham before taking his talent to the States.

Bobby gained 108 caps for England - a record later broken by keeper Peter Shilton. Lifting the World Cup turned Moore into a national icon.

Four years later, Bobby made World Cup headlines for the wrong reasons. His preparation for the Mexican campaign was disrupted after attempts were made to implicate him in the theft of a bracelet from a Bogota jewellers.